The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...

(NAACP) for an outstanding achievement by an

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

. The award was created in 1914 by

Joel Elias Spingarn Joel Elias Spingarn (May 17, 1875 – July 26, 1939) was an American educator, literary critic, civil rights activist, military intelligence officer, and horticulturalist. Biography Spingarn was born in New York City to an upper middle-cla ...

, chairman of the board of directors of the NAACP. It was first awarded to biologist Ernest E. Just in 1915, and has been given most years thereafter. At its annual convention, the NAACP presents the award after deciding from open nominations. Should the organization end, it would be managed by Howard or Fisk Universities. The gold medal is valued at $100, and Spingarn left $20,000 () in his will for the NAACP to continue giving it indefinitely.

List of recipients

Notes

;Footnotes ;Specific references ;General references * * {{African American topics Awards established in 1915 American awards Awards honoring African Americans 1915 establishments in the United States NAACP